1 Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to gowns adapted for patients, and particularly adapted to incontinent individuals confined to a wheelchair or the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As noted in prior patents dealing with related subject matter, dress is an existing problem in private homes and in institutions that take care of numerous disabled persons. Whether the disability is caused by accident, illness or disease (mental or physical) or some other defect, many patients are unable to dress themselves in usual clothing. Some are bed-ridden or confined to wheelchairs. Still other patients are restricted in the clothing they can wear due to their illness or disease, such as for example, incontinent patients. Nevertheless, many of these patients wish to be clothed in a garment more attractive in appearance than the conventional hospital gown.
Patients in wheelchairs do not wear plastic pants with disposable or washable liners (as do persons who could walk about) when they have problems of continence of bladder and bowel functions. Such patients sit in a wheelchair on a disposable diaper-like pad which is not fastened to the body. No pants are worn over the pad. The patient is then dressed in whatever gown or robe is readily available. The staff usually scoot these garments up in the rear, so that there is less likelihood of their being soaked, and so that pad changes can be made more easily.
This present practice is inadequate in many ways. There is too much excess material in the rear of the chair seat and too little in front for comfort and decency. Dressed this way the patients look sloppy and are not comfortable, and the incontinence problem is very obvious to the observer. Patients certainly cannot be cared for easily, and the time spent in changing pads and dressing patients is greater than necessary. This incontinent situation is humiliating and depressing for any patient, and the present system simply makes it more so.
Exemplary prior art gowns are described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,712,133 entitled "Wheelchair Robe" by L. M. Coleman; U.S. Pat. No. 974,981 entitled "Combination Garment" by L. S. Lee; U.S. Pat. No. 3,911,499 entitled "Disposable Medical Gown" by J. Benevento and K. W. Hinsch; U.S. Pat. No. 3,855,635 entitled "Two Piece Hospital Gown" by C. Ramirez; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,727,238, entitled "Garment For Invalid" by B. R. Wolfson.
Further, U.S. Pat. No. 2,707,282 by L. M. Paterson teaches a "Hospital Garment" which is utilitarian in appearance. In particular, the garment is of the conventional hospital gown design and has rear overlapping portions adapted to be folded away from beneath a patient when seated.
In U.S. Pat. No. 2,886,822 by C. A. Matthews for a "Hospital Gown" teaches a gown designed for use by a patient when lying in bed. This gown is likewise utilitarian in appearance and was designed primarily to facilitate the dressing of patients, that due to their condition, are either difficult to move or dangerous to move, or for patients restricted to bed.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,144,659 also by C. A. Matthews for a "Hospital Gown" again teaches a utilitarian hospital gown of convential design. As pointed out in this patent, the purpose of such a design is substantially the same as that in his prior patent discussed above.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,339,209 by H. E. Larson for a "One-Piece Garment" teaches a garment eminently suited for disabled women. This one-piece garment is designed to include under support to the chest portion of the wearer and is substantially a dress in design for ambulatory patients. In addition, this garment also teaches the separation of the garment in the back portion thereof for use by incontinent patients; however, this gown still does not provide a readily open area in the rear portion thereof without bundling of material around the patient while seated. As in most conventional hospital gowns or other conventional gowns per se, an incontinent patient will require a portion of the gown to be removed from the seat area when the patient is seated, which removal will cause a bundling appearance of the garment around the patient when seated. As will be described in greater detail herein below, my design is directed to overcome this and other associated problems with the prior art.